Page 24 of Falling for the Hotshot

“Tell me more about your cabin. Would it have a porch?” He chuckled at my question.

“Of course it would.”

“A wraparound porch?” I pressed.

“Is there any other kind?” I had to consciously stop the smile on my face as my jaw was starting to have a dull ache.

“Okay, what about rocking chairs?”

“Two rocking chairs, of course.”

“Why two? Why not just one rocking chair?” I teased, wanting to hear him explain.

“Because the… The person who would be living there with me would be awfully jealous of mine. She needs her own.”

“She?” I asked.

“My future wife.” Something about how he said wife made all of the hair on my arms stand up. It felt like he was talking about… me.

“Now that I think about it, it seems like a porch swing would be better than a rocking chair.”

“Then we’d have to build one.” At this moment, I melted into my cushioned chair. A long pause followed. “Tower Three?” he asked, but I felt like I was floating in the clouds.

“Go ahead,” I replied formally.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?”

“Thanks for making my time here so… interesting.”

“I could say the same for you.” Meeting Blaze was the most exciting part about this whole adventure.

“We should probably stop inventing radio checks just to talk to one another,” he teased.

“I won’t if you won’t,” I said.

“Copy that.”

Chapter 22

The Color of Fire

Blaze

Every day brought a new conversation with Autumn, and a power struggle between Melody and me. I realized that because I was new to this position, she had an upper hand on me, meaning I was her trainee, and she was my mentor. But while we waited for something to go down… I wanted to tap into that nepotism that Don was going on about and abuse my position to continue to get to know the girl in Tower Three.

Autumn sounded beautiful… Inside and out. She would share little anecdotes with me about God, the things she wanted out of life, and it sounded like the woman also loved baked goods as much as I did. In the days that passed, I hadn’t seen Don to inquire about her. I also didn’t feel like I wanted to ask Kerry more details, as even though I’d known Kerry for years, it was different with her. She was a woman and not family, like Don. I needed the inside scoop on Autumn from a male perspective. But Don was out on prescribed burns, day after day.

Eventually, Melody had a day off. I was really excited, as my plans were to get to know everything about Autumn that I could while having some sense of privacy in the office.

The day had started out with Kerry in the building, doing some paperwork. All of the towers started to check-in for the morning, and I was praying that Autumn would wait until the time she usually called in, because Kerry said she was leaving in just a few minutes. The time passed, and Kerry packed up and left. But Autumn still hadn’t called in. I checked the time; it was past 7:30. She had never called in the past 7:15. Usually, it was on the dot at 7:10, sometimes even earlier if there was a particularly unusual cloud in the sky, like that time she saw one that looked like Steve Buscemi wearing a top hat.

After not hearing from her, I made the decision to call her.

“Dispatch to Tower Three?” My mind rattled with every second that passed, and she didn’t respond. I turned to the computer monitor that showed the small camera on the peak of the lookout she was in. Nothing unusual at first glance but for the faintest moment, I thought I saw bright red hair blowing in the wind, its length surpassing the roofline of the tower. I watched as if I would be quizzed on the shade, until I saw it again. My heart leapt at catching the slightest glimpse of this woman, and I also rested seeing that she was fine, just enjoying the morning view. Suddenly, the hair was gone, and the beautiful voice of an angel was on the other end of my radio.

“Tower Three to Dispatch.” I smiled.